Bone

bone except insofar as it contains bone marrow, might seem of little use to the cook save for making stock for soups, but in fact, because of that use, it may claim to be one of the fundamentals of W. European cookery. Consider your bones, a good chef might say, and they will work magic. Stock becomes consommé or the invalid’s beef broth, now billed as a super-food by eager faddists. Bones are also the source of gelatin, and before that, hartshorn, used to set jellies before commercial gelatin was perfected. (The first patents for gelatin production were sought in 1754, in connection with the manufacture of glue.)